Fatal Fire: Tempest
by t.j.guard
Summary: The second he recieved word, he left, no questions asked. What he plunged into was a storm: a storm of emotions, identities, lies, and magic.
1. Voyager

Fatal Fire: Tempest

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

A/N: This is one hundred percent independent of the Wraith and Love/Neverlander series, though Captain Hook does make an appearance, and Tinker Bell does, too.  
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Voyager

He slipped the postcard into his jacket pocket and rummaged about his apartment, filling a duffel bag with clothes and toiletries and managing to find enough money in various places about the apartment to pay for a bus ticket at least as far as Portland. He didn't allow himself to stop to think about the consequences of the situation as he ran into the street and down to the station. "How far can this take me?" he asked, laying the money on the counter in front of the ticket clerk.

"Which direction?" the clerk replied.

"North."

"How far, sir?"

"How far can I go?"

"Sir, you can buy yourself a ticket to just about anywhere."

"I need to get to a place called Storybrooke?"

"That in Maine?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"The closest we can get you is Portland."

"Then I'll get on the next bus to Portland."

"One moment, please, sir."

Several minutes later, he boarded a bus and settled into his seat, his bag at his feet. He rubbed his eyes and sighed, tilting his head back, and he pulled out the card and studied it for a moment before pulling his phone, his last valuable item, out of the same pocket and dialling a number he knew by heart.

"Hello?" his friend asked.

"It's me," he replied.

"Got the message, I see."

"Yeah. Why the pigeon, though?"

"Didn't know if we'd go back or not."

"I see."

"But we didn't."

He nodded and chewed his lip. "Is...is he..."

"He changed this entire world."

"Dammit, I knew he would. He shouldn't have come."

"He had his reasons, absolutely, I know it."

"Yes, revenge. I bet he didn't like being trapped in a magicless world for almost thirty years."

"Don't judge until you listen to him, alright?"

He sighed. "No promises. I don't do that, remember?"

"Yeah, I know."

"So do me a favor and act like it."

He heard his friend sigh on the other end of the line. "Listen, when you get here, you'll kind of have to look for me. I'm not in much of a position to walk the streets right now. It'll look weird, and I don't wanna think about what happens to me."

"Fair."

"I, um, I hope you're ready. Everybody remembers now, and, well, you can imagine the chaos this town is in."

"To be expected."

"Are you ready to see him again?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Call me if anything changes."

"Will do."

"And, good luck."

"Thanks. You, too."

"Thanks."

He hung up and returned his phone to his pocket along with the postcard.


	2. Arrival

Arrival

The bus dropped Bae off just outside Portland, Maine, and he stepped off and adjusted his duffel bag on his shoulder. He quickly spotted a couple walking to their car and asked them where they were going. When they said they were on their way north, he asked for a ride, which they willingly obliged to. They dropped him off outside a small town several miles north of Portland. He waved as they drove away and then walked north.

He only had to go a mile before seeing the sign declaring that he was now entering Storybrooke. He took a deep breath and passed over the line the sign indicated. He felt the air change almost immediately. "It's okay, you can do this," he said to himself.

The town proper soon appeared through the dense forest which surrounded it. In the dying light, the people were still animated, and it looked as if something had sent the town into disarray. "What the hell happened here?" he asked.

"A wraith," a bespectacled man holding an umbrella said.

"Did it get what it wanted?"

"Last I heard, disappeared to parts unknown, alongside Snow and Emma." He nodded in understanding, but the names meant nothing to him besides what his friend had told him.

"Know where I can stay that's cheap and not totally in shambles?"

"Anybody that comes here always stays at Granny's: Emma, Pinnocchio...well, those've been the only visitors we had. Who're you?"

"Name's Ben. Ben Andersson."

"Jiminy Cricket." The man extended his hand toward Ben, and he shook it. Maybe it was okay to use a fairy tale name here, but he didn't want anyone knowing his yet.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

Ben nodded to Jiminy and walked toward Granny's, a bed and breakfast. An elderly woman and her granddaughter stood behind the desk, the latter behind the former, and Ben soon saw why. A man in a suit was leaning on a cane before them. The young woman excused herself and turned to help the customer, and the man turned. Ben recognized him at once, and lumps formed in his throat and stomach.

"Can I help you?" the young woman asked.

"What-oh, uh, yes. I'd like a room, but I spent the last of what I had on a ticket to get here."

"Why don't you stay with me?" the man with the cane asked. Ben refused to acknowledge that he recognized the voice, as well.

"What do you want for it?"

"What do you mean?"

"People always want something. I don't have a lot to give, so I want to know what I'm getting into before I get screwed over."

The man stepped forward and said in a low voice, "If you're who I think you are, I already have space."

"Do you expect me to produce some kind of proof?"

"I tell you what, if you can prove yourself, I'll let you stay with me."

"Let's talk outside." The man followed Ben onto the sidewalk and then into an alley. "What do you want to know? Ask me anything. Except a math question. I'm bad at math."

The man laughed. "I had a son," he said solemnly after he recovered himself, "and I lost him."

"You didn't lose him," Ben said at once. "You let him go. He screamed at you to come with him, and you refused. You hung onto that knife, that stupid knife, but you let your flesh and blood go. Why? Because you're a coward."

"I know. I'm a coward and a fool, and every day I've paid for it, because I lost him."

"Don't say it like that."

The man sighed, closed his eyes, and bowed his head. "I let my boy go, my beautiful boy, and my only hope is that he'll forgive me, but oh, how I doubt it."

"If I see him, I have a feeling if he'll ask if you even tried to get him back, because I'm sure he loved you."

"If you see him, tell him that I spent every waking moment of every day, every century, looking for him and trying to get him back."

Ben met the man's eyes and recognized in them the sadness he felt. "Anything else?" he asked.

"What do you think he would've done, after arriving in a land without magic?"

"Learned to fight, maybe. Learn to write, definitely. Maybe try to make a living as a storyteller."

"Would he be successful?"

"A lot of people want to be storytellers. Not a lot of them can tell the truth of a story."

The man nodded and held his hand out to Ben. "What do you call yourself now?"

"Ben," he said, shaking the man's hand. "You?"

"Mr. Gold."

"No first name?"

"Never felt the need for one." Ben nodded. "Well, if you're going to stay with me, you'd better come now. I don't want you spending your first night in town in an alley." Ben nodded again and followed Mr. Gold down the street.

They came to a large home with a beige facade. It was three stories tall, and to Ben, all concepts of the man's modesty flew out the window. Mr. Gold unlocked the front door and gestured for Ben to enter. "Your room is upstairs. I've kept it locked, for fear of anyone stealing anything from it. I hope you understand," Mr. Gold said.

"I live in New York. Trust me, I get it," Ben replied.

"Oh, good. I'll be back. Please, feel free to make yourself at home." But as Mr. Gold walked upstairs, Ben remained at his spot.

OUAT

Rumpelstiltskin unlocked the second-story room that he had reserved for Baelfire, almost overwhelmed by the fact that the room's intended inhabitant was potentially standing in his foyer. But he couldn't rush to judgement just yet. He'd been duped once by someone he thought was his long-lost son.

He returned to the foyer and asked for Ben to follow him, which he did. "So," he asked, "what brings you to Storybrooke?"

"I recieved a postcard from an old friend. The card said that the curse had been broken, in not so many words," Ben replied.

"I see."

Rumpelstiltskin stopped in front of the doorway and gestured for Ben to enter. Ben nodded his thanks and slipped inside. Rumpelstiltskin waited until Ben closed the door before descending the stairwell again.


	3. Adjustment Period

Adjustment Period

By the next morning, speculation about the new arrival named Ben flew about the town like the papers in the breeze. As Ben watched the scene from the sidewalk across from his host's pawn shop, he wondered about the wraith that caused this. He had no doubt that Mr. Gold, if he was who Ben thought he was, introduced it, and for revenge, but he wanted to know the how, the what, the who. Who struck a deal that would've given the Dark One that kind of power? More importantly, who paid the price?

Well, he had to start somewhere, he reasoned as he crossed the street and entered the shop. He began to peruse the items, scrutinizing each for a clue. "Do you have a question?" Mr. Gold asked behind him.

"Yes, I do," Ben replied. "The wraith that came through before I arrived..."

"Why?"

"No. How? Who?"

"The who is my business."

"I can't ask questions?"

"Oh, you can. It's a matter of what I'm willing to tell you."

"Can you tell me how?"

"No. Not yet."

A man with secrets. No surprise there, Ben thought. "Fair enough. I'll give you that." Gold nodded and smiled. "I, um, I hope you find your son."

"Oh, thank you." Ben turned back toward the objects on the shelf, but Gold asked, "I never expected him to come look for me, for obvious reasons, but...do you think he'd have thought of me?"

"Every day," Ben said.

"How would he feel, do you think?"

"At first, he'd have been angry at you because you let him go, but it would've faded over time, since that's what anger does, and he probably would've missed you after that."

"You knew a lot last night, about what happened. How?"

Ben smiled. "That, Mr. Gold, is my business, I'm afraid."

Gold nodded. "Of course." He disappeared inside the back office, and Ben resumed his perusal of the items.

OUAT

Ben stayed at the shop for most of the day and even allowed his host to buy lunch at a place operated by the women who managed the bed and breakfast. He came to learn that his host owned the town of Storybrooke and therefore decided that even by the standards of the real world he was rich. It was almost feudal.

They got into a discussion on that very topic, and Ben learned that Regina, who cast the curse, designed the town that way. Ben also learned that Mr. Gold was the original architect of the curse, in the first place, to get to his lost son.

The end result of the day was that he collapsed on his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

But he was too anxious to sleep. Too much was going on around him.

He fished out his phone, checked for service with a vague thought to the unreliability of upstate Maine, and, satisfied that he could, dialled his friend's number.

"What's goin' down, bloodhound?" his contact asked.

"A lot of stuff," Ben replied. "Can I come over? I don't wanna talk about it from where I'm at right now."

"Uh, okay. What's up?"

"I wanna come over to talk, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Thanks." He hung up and slipped out of his room. Mr. Gold was talking to a woman in the living room, and he slipped out to the sidewalk and walked down to Granny's. He moved past the proprieter and her granddaughter, made his way up the stairs, and knocked on room number two. A wooden man greeted him and gestured for him to enter.

"So, what's happenin'?" August asked.

Ben sank onto the bed. "My dad's afraid to recognize me, I think he did something to this town where he gets to be powerful, he's basically the reason you guys are all here, and, oh, he can't wrap his mind around the simple fact that he let me go."

"That's rough."

"So what do I do about it?"

"Absolutely nothing."

"What?"

"You talk to him in good time, once you're sure he's ready to talk to you straight up again. Until then, hang back, okay?"

Ben sighed. "Okay, fine."

August sat on the bed in front of Ben. "Listen, everything's going to be fine."

"You don't know that." Ben suddenly had the impression that something was going horribly wrong. "Like now, for instance."

"I know that look. You feel something."

"Do we go or not?"

"We?"

"We're going."

"What?"

But without a further word, Ben dragged August bodily from the room by his upper arm.


	4. Break-In and Aftermath

Break-In and Aftermath

Ben led August back down to the pawn shop and pushed him behind an alley. He peered around the corner at the shop. "What're we doing here?" August asked.

"Something's happening," Ben replied.

"What?"

"I don't know, but I can tell it's bad."

A figure approached the door of the shop and slipped something into the lock, as if to pick it. Ben shrunk back. This man was sending off some really dangerous vibes. The man disappeared into the shop, and Ben walked up to the door. August was close behind. "Stay here and keep watch," Ben said to August, who knit his brow as best he could but nodded. Ben slipped inside the shop.

The man held a clock over the glass. Ben tackled him, shattering the glass counter and dishevelling its contents. The man smacked his head on the inner shelf, and a piece of glass scraped Ben's cheek. He noticed that the man had strikingly blue eyes.

During this moment, he was thrown to one side. Shit, Ben said to himself, getting to his feet and sinking into a fighting stance. The man rushed him, to the reward of a punch in the face and a second one to the ribs. The man doubled over, and Ben punched him a third time, to the nose. The man sank to the floor in a heap with a moan. Ben noticed that his right hand was replaced by a metal stump. "What're you doing here?" he asked.

"I want...my hook back," the man replied.

"Can't you buy it back?"

"The price is too high."

Ben nodded. That he could understand. "What do you want your hook for?"

The man glared up at him. "Why do you care?"

"I care because you're putting me off, and I don't like people who put me off. I have to do something about them."

"Who are you?"

"Depends on what you call yourself." The man rushed from the floor. Ben kicked him in the head. "Stay down." But Ben didn't need to worry about the man, as he was now unconscious. Ben walked out of the shop as fast as possible. "Anything new?"

"Still feel like he's a bad guy?"

"Almost sure of it. Let's go. I can't stay here."

"And I feel like this is completely pointless, so we're on the same page."

Ben slowed so that he and August walked side by side. This night would not go in vain. "Tell me about the wraith that attacked the town."

"It didn't exactly attack the town. Gold marked Regina with it, so she was the target."

"But it's not here anymore. Is she dead?"

"The wraith's gone somewhere else, along with Emma and Snow."

"Where'd they go?"

"No clue."

"Bet Gold knows."

"Still not callin' him Rumpelstiltskin, I see."

"Now, he's either Gold or the Dark One. Unless he decides he's gonna be my dad again, I'm not gonna call him Rumpelstiltskin."

"He does love you."

"He loves Bae, and I haven't been Bae in a long time."

August nodded. "Ever thought about giving him a shot, though?"

"That was before I came here and learned he brought a wraith to set on someone. This world's not even supposed to have magic, and it feels like home. Bet he did that, too."

"Ben?"

"Yes?"

"Breathe."

"Thanks."

"Sure thing." They stopped at a street corner. "Well, I guess you should go back there. You had a big day."

"You always talk like you're my big brother."

"You need somebody, don't you?"

"I'm going back now." Ben turned sharply and walked back to Gold's house, and August sighed and walked back to Granny's.

OUAT

Ben returned to the guest room and stopped just inside the door. He studied the items. Several were unique to this world, but there were his old clothes from the Enchanted Forest on the bureaus, and his ball was sitting in a corner.

Gold apparently wanted his son to feel welcome when he came home, if he came home at all. Ben walked over to the bed and fingered its coverings. In a way, it reminded him of before while being completely new.

"What are you thinking?" Gold asked behind him.

"Oh, just...reminiscing," Ben replied.

"You went out, I see."

"Someone tried to break into the shop. I think he's still out. I kicked him pretty hard."

"So that's what that is, on your cheek."

"Yeah. You're gonna, um, have to fix your counter. I destroyed it tackling him."

"Oh, did you? Well, you prevented my shop from being burglarized, so the repairs will be on me."

"Oh, that's cool."

"Well, I best be off. I don't want the man waking up and making your work in vain." Ben nodded to him, and Gold disappeared down the hall.

OUAT

August sat at the desk and stared at his typewriter. Ben said Gold wasn't ready to recognize him and even refused it, but August couldn't help but wonder that perhaps the inverse was also true: Ben didn't want to recognize that his father was his father until he was sure to get what he needed out of the relationship. August just didn't know if that was going to happen.

Ben even let the man robbing the pawn shop go, at least, August thought he did, after kicking the crap out of him. The guy was probably unconscious, then, according to Ben's actions. August sighed and settled back, hitting the back of the chair with a soft thud. If Ben became distracted, he could become very dangerous, especially if possessed of a rage in the eye of the magical storm entering the real world. He had no idea what kind of power he possessed.


	5. Run and Confirmation

Run and Confirmation

The man awoke in the hospital. He barely remembered the previous night, but he knew enough to know that some stranger had most likely given him a concussion. He didn't want to wonder at the other injuries.

"What're you in for?" a woman beside him asked. Somewhat startled, he turned to look, and he found himself almost entranced by a green-eyed, blonde beauty in the bed next to him.

"I'm not sure, but I figure I'll find out," he replied.

"Doubt it. I don't even know why I'm locked up, 'cept the Mayor, our darling queen, would have a use for me, or maybe the doctor."

"I shudder to think."

"But he has to let us go sometime. Protocol and all that."

"You mean we're going to be stuck here?"

"You talk like it's forever, and forever is an awfully long time."

He propped himself up on his elbow. "Miss Bell?"

"They call me Joslyn here. What do they call you?"

"Captain. Sometimes Captain Hook."

Tinker Bell smiled. "Good to see you, Captain."

"The same to you."

"Well, since I know who you are now and I know for a fact that you're antsy about staying here interminably, I say we escape."

"Escape?"

"The lights go out at ten, and by then the only people around are the night guard and the janitor, and they don't come by here until one in the morning, if at all. We've got hours. We can find some decent clothes, maybe get our hands on some keys, our files, important stuff. I know all the steps, all the routines. I can do it. I can get us out of here."

"Any guarantees for after we leave?"

"No, but I don't handle that. There's a puppet here named August, or Pinocchio if you like. He talked to me sometimes, before he turned into a puppet. He said there's this man named Ben, and once the curse is broken, he'd be available, too, to help us. They'll shelter us. They're, like, the resistance for this world."

"There's still the chance that we'll be found."

"The queen's in jail. Haven't you heard?"

"I have not."

"So you must be new here."

"Just sailed in."

Tink nodded. "I'll tell you everything you need to know a lot about this place. They thought I wasn't listening, but I was."

Dr. Whale entered the room. Tink immediately turned her gaze to the ceiling and assumed a glazed-over countenance. Hook reacted more slowly, but he turned his gaze to the doctor, studying his face. "Awake, I see," Whale said.

"As awake as I'll ever be," the captain replied. Whale smirked and produced a syringe. Hook snatched it out of his hand and drove the needle deep into the doctor's leg before injecting the syringe's contents. The doctor sank to the floor, and Tink sat up.

"Are you nuts?" she asked.

"No, but I fear he is."

"Well now we're in a strange position, so what the hell do you think we should do?"

"Unhook ourselves and flee the scene."

She tore the needles and electrodes from her skin and stumbled out into the hall. He was soon to follow, and she led him down to an exit. She threw a glance over her shoulder and entered a code. "I said I listen," she offered by way of explanation as they entered the stair well. "Best place to hide in the whole building. I don't know this as well, but some of the nurses come up for coffee sometimes."

They walked down a hall and she pulled him into a closet. A large, stocky man lumbered past. They shrank back to the wall and waited for the man's footsteps to fade into the distance. "Okay," she whispered, "we can stay here for a while."

"Then what?" he replied.

"Then we get out."

"How?"

"I think I heard something about a tunnel leading to the rest of the underground network."

"Do you think it exists?"

"One way to find out." She walked out of the closet, followed closely but reluctantly by Hook.

OUAT

Rumpelstiltsin took a deep breath and entered the room. "Bae?" he asked.

His guest stood and turned toward him. "I haven't been Bae in a long time," he replied.

"Is it you?"

"Depends on who you ask."

"I'm asking you. Are you Baelfire?"

Ben walked up to his father and looked him in the eye. Softly he asked, "What do you think...Papa?" Recognition immediately flashed into Rumpelstiltskin's eyes, but he quashed it. "August lied to you, I know."

"How do I know you're not?"

"There are a few things your son would know that August doesn't. You can ask me about those, if you want."

I can't back out now, Rumpelstiltskin thought. "Let me assume that you are Bae and see how you answer."

"Alright."

"Did you once say, 'If the law says I'm to fight, then I'll fight'?"

"Yes."

"What did the duke tell you about your mother?"

"She left us."

"Who gave you the magic bean that sent you to this world?"

"The Blue Fairy, Reul Ghorm."

"Who told you about her?"

"Morraine." Ben's voice caught, and then a question came to his mouth, unbidden. "What happened to her? Did she live happily?"

"She...she made me promise to help her find you."

"What price did she have to pay?"

"I gave her a bargain because I know she matters to you."

Ben released a breath. "Where is she?"

"I won't ask you to forgive me for this..." Rumpelstiltskin forced himself to keep his voice steady. "Come with me." He walked downstairs with Ben at his heels. They continued thus until they reached the pawn shop.

"Please tell me you didn't turn her into something," Ben said.

"The exact terms were that she could see you again, but I had to send her somewhere where that could be possible."

"Is she dead?"

"No." Rumpelstiltskin plucked a hand-sized crystal ball off a shelf. "Here, I need you to keep this. Make sure it doesn't break, because if it does, so does the connection you now have with her." Ben took the ball and then inhaled sharply. "What is it?"

"I...I don't know. I feel...something."

"Can you describe what you feel?"

"Like...magic...but...a little different."

"Are you alright?"

"I think so." Ben put the ball into his pocket. "I, um, I think I'll walk around for a bit, clear my head, get the lay of the land, stuff like that."

Rumpelstitlskin nodded. "Alright, that's fair." He recieved a nod in response and watched Ben walk out of the shop.


	6. Visitors

Visitors

Ben spent the better part of an hour roaming Storybrooke aimlessly. His hand stayed in his pocket with the crystal ball that was, for the moment, his only link to Morraine. He knew right away that Mr. Gold was his father and he was Rumpelstiltskin's son, because Morraine came up in the conversation.

He took a deep breath. He had a magical crystal ball in his hand but no idea how it worked beyond what he learned in the movies, and he doubted they would even be correct.

He stopped at Granny's and, on a whim, made his way up to August's room. "Hey, Ben," he said. "Another long day?"

Ben took a deep breath and produced the ball. "Wherever this thing leads to, that's where Morraine is."

"Why's she there?"

"Because she cut a deal with my dad so she could see me again. Poor girl."

"That's love right there."

"But...there's more. When I touched this ball, I felt...something."

"Can you describe it?"

"Like...magic. What's the magic like here?"

"A bottle of true love potion was dropped into the well just outside the town proper but inside the town limits, creating a purple smoke that engulfed the town and did weird things to it. So the story goes."

"So he did bring magic here."

"That's the prevailing theory."

"Why?"

"Do you know why he set the wraith on Regina?"

"Revenge."

"He was avenging Belle, whom Regina locked away for thirty years, maybe more. Belle and Gold have some kind of relationship or something, is the story that's been going around town."

"He did all that for a woman?" August nodded. Ben squeezed the ball in his hand and was seriously tempted to throw it against the wall, but his father's words returned to him, and he gingerly set it down on August's desk, next to his typewriter, and clenched his fist.

"Okay, okay," August said, stepping forward and placing his hands on Ben's shoulders. "You need to relax." Someone knocked on the door. "Stay here. I'll get it." He releasted Ben, retreated two steps, and then turned to answer the door. A blonde woman and a black-haired man with blue eyes stood in the hall. "Hello?"

"She told me about you," the man said. Then his eyes drifted to Ben, and he charged him. Ben punched him hard enough to force him to stumble back into August.

"That's enough," August said, stepping between these two.

"Last time we spoke, he kicked the crap out of me. It's only fair I do the same."

"Jas, we have bigger problems," the blonde said. "We're fugitives from the hospital and probably the queen, even though I heard she's in jail," she said to August and Ben. "But if we stayed in the hospital, we'd have been stuck there as hostages."

"Get in here," August said. The man glared at him. "I don't mean to be rude, but seriously, just get in."

"We can't stay out here all day," she said as she walked in. August bolted the door behind them.

"So, what do you two call yourselves?"

"Tink," she said, gesturing to herself, "and Captain Hook," she gestured to the man beside her. August nodded. Ben and Hook regarded each other carefully.

"So you heard of us, huh?"

"They talked about it in the hospital a lot. A guy on a motorcycle rode into town, and we later learned that he called himself August Booth. I think you," she said to Ben, "were only mentioned in passing, but I figured if you were with August, that left two safe people besides an unbelieving savior."

"Wait, I thought you didn't remember anything."

"They assumed I was brain dead. More importantly, Regina assumed I was brain dead. Guess they could let me think what I wanted so long as I looked like I wasn't thinking."

"They're going to notice your absence," Ben said.

"Yeah, but I don't really care, and he wasn't there for long, maybe a few hours. I guess what I'm trying to ask, in a roundabout fashion, is, can we crash here?"

"Your choice, not mine," Ben said to August.

"Okay, sure," August said to them. "We've got a couple sleeping bags." Hook nodded briskly, and August fetched the sleeping bags. Ben slipped the crystal ball back into his jacket pocket.

OUAT

Rumpelstiltskin paced back and forth, but for hours he had failed to come up with a reasonable explanation for Ben's behavior other than the fact that Ben was in fact Baelfire. "Are you alright?" Belle asked.

Rumpelstiltskin stopped pacing and turned to face her. "I think I found my son," he replied.

"That's...that's good, right?"

"I thought I had before, and the man I thought was my son turned out to be an opportunistic liar, so I'm sure you can imagine my reluctance."

"Have you been pondering this matter for a while?"

He nodded. "He wondered about Morraine, and Morraine was Bae's closest friend in the village, the only one who stayed when I scared away everyone else. And I highly doubt Pinocchio would care about such a detail."

"So your conclusion is that this stranger is your son." Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Sounds like the two of you have a big adjustment to make."

"Yes, yes we do."

"In that case, you better rest and give this a little time. Please." He nodded again and walked over to the sofa, where he sank into a cushion on one end of it.

She sat next to him, and he rubbed his eyes. "I can't begin to imagine what he must be feeling right now."

"He'd be getting used to the fact that his father is here in the same world he is, and whatever else he could be learning about Storybrooke."

"That's a heavy load."

"Yes, it is, but we are never given anything that we can't handle." Rumpelstiltskin nodded in an effort to appear reassured, but he was far from feeling it.


	7. In the Night

In the Night

Ben lay on one side of August's bed listening to him work at the typewriter and studying the crystal ball in his hand. Finally, he asked, "Do you know what this thing is?"

August glanced over and then returned to his work. "All I know is it's something called an indicator. You think of what you want most, it labels itself that way, and it glows when you get close to it."

"And if you break it?"

"Then you have no way of knowing and could get yourself lost, especially in between realms." Ben nodded. "Why do you ask?"

"Gold said this was my only way to get to Morraine."

"How'd he know about her?"

"I brought it up. She cut a deal so that he she could see me again, but to do it, he had to send her somewhere, and this is how I find her again."

"Well, wish I could tell you how, but magic's different here."

"So I've heard."

"You've heard correctly."

Ben lowered the orb and stared at their guests. Tink he guessed was the fairy Tinker Bell. August had told him about her, but it wasn't the story Disney wanted the world to know.

OUAT

Tinker Bell flew into the hollow of the nearest tree and peered out. Peter Pan had been combing Neverland in search of her. He wanted his playmate back, and that thought chilled the fairy to the core. She began to plot a way off the island.

Finally, the Lost Boy scout passed her tree, and she flew up and out through another hole in the bark. Hangman's Tree and the surrounding area were deserted, and she calculated that she could get at least that far before needing to hide again. She flew off.

She reached the beach before spying another soul. She ducked behind a rock and studied the form. She could tell right off that he was no boy, and she guessed that he was somewhere in his thirties. Carefully, she eased her way out of her hiding place and over toward him. "Hello?" he asked her expectantly. The first thing she noticed was his piercingly blue eyes, in sharp contrast to his black hair.

"Who are you?" she asked him. "What do you call yourself?"

"Hook." He held up what remained of his right hand, replaced by a metal hook. "Captain Hook. May I ask what you call yourself?"

"Right now? A fugitive."

"From whom?"

Something rustled at the edge of the forest. Tink whipped her head around and then shrank back. Hook drew a cutlass and prepared for battle.

OUAT

Ben started, inadvertently releasing his grip on the ball. After a moment, he settled himself that he was back in reality. "You okay?" August asked.

"Yeah," Ben replied, pocketing the ball and getting to his feet. "I'm, uh, gonna get some air."

"Be back soon." Ben nodded and walked out.

The air was cold, so he buried his fists into his pockets and walked briskly just to keep warm. His eyes went to the clock tower, which read eight fifteen. That clock had stopped twice now in twenty-eight years, between which it had been inadvertently and magically started by Emma. He shuddered and exhaled, and he continued his walk.

Almost a half-hour later, he realized he wasn't just feeling the cold. He was getting a vibe, and a bad one. He turned and spotted the pawn shop. His instinct had led him here, and as soon as he saw the figure emerging from it, he instantly knew why. He turned to leave and was instantly grabbed from behind. The tip of a hook was pressed to his neck, and the other hand wrapped around his wrists. "What do you say we finish what we started?" Hook asked.

"What do you say we settle this peacefully?" Ben replied. "No way in hell can I win a fist fight against a man with a complete hook hand."

Hook released Ben's hands and pulled the orb out of his pocket. "Looking for someone?" he asked.

"Yes." Hook paused. "A girl from my village," he said as he grabbed Hook's wrist. Hook tightened his grip on the ball. Ben pushed the hook out of the way and turned and twisted Hook's arm behind him. Hook sank to his knees in an unconscious effort to avoid the pain. Ben plucked the ball from his hand and pocketed it. "I'll let you take all but two things," he hissed in the pirate's ear. "You can't take my life, and you can't take my chance to find this girl. Do you understand?"

"You must really love her," Hook replied. "Not that that'll get you anywhere."

"What do you mean?"

"Love's only as powerful as the magic allows it to be."

"What do you know?"

Hook laughed, a chilling sound to Ben's ear. "Do you have any idea what your host did to me?"

"Since this is the first I've heard of it, no."

He continued to laugh. "Of course you don't. He'd never tell you."

"So that means I'll expect you to." Hook turned, ignoring the pain in his arm and shoulder, but Ben grabbed the base of his hook. The captain now found himself in the rather helpless of position of having both of his hands pinned behind his back in an almost excruciatingly painful manner.

"Impressive."

"Answer my question."

Hook took a deep breath to steady himself. "He took my brother." Ben released him. Hook fell forward, his hook scraping along the asphalt. He let out a cry and then gasped and looked up at Ben.

"I'll look into it. I hope tonight we've reached a new understanding." With that, he walked down the street, both hands in his pockets. Hook pushed himself to his feet and watched Ben for a moment.

"Hey," he said. Ben stopped and turned to face him. "If you find him, you take care of him until I can see him again."

"I will." Ben turned and continued his walk with Hook's eyes on his back, unwavering.

OUAT

"Enjoy your walk?" August asked when Ben returned.

"Yeah," Ben replied.

"Good."

Ben walked over to the bed and lay on one side, but August had opted for the floor. Whatever, Ben thought as he turned to the wall and fell asleep.


	8. The Search Begins

The Search Begins

Rumpelstiltskin put the last of the pieces of glass into the trash can and put the counter to rights again when he heard the bell ring. "I'm afraid the shop's closed," he said as he turned. Ben stood immediately in front of the door.

"Hey," he said. "Can I ask you a few questions?"

"Absolutely. You can talk to me about anything."

Ben took a step forward. "Can you tell me about...about Captain Hook's brother?"

Rumpelstiltskin paled, but he said, "He made a deal with me once."

"What were the terms?"

"He wanted something trivial, to live forever, I believe."

"I assume he got what he wanted, just not the way he expected."

"You'd be correct."

"Papa...what was his name?"

"Jasper. Jasper Jones." Ben nodded. After a moment, Rumpelstiltskin asked, "How're you doing? Alright?"

"Yeah."

Rumpelstiltskin stepped forward. "I, um, I know I haven't been a model father, far from it, actually, especially after I became the Dark One, and I know the chances of you forgiving me are slim and none, but I want you to know that, whatever happens, I love you."

Ben let out a dry laugh. "You're still gonna choose power over me."

"I chose it once, Bae, but now I choose you."

Ben scoffed. "I'll believe it when I see it." He walked out of the shop. Rumpelstiltskin sighed and returned to his work.

OUAT

Ben walked into the library and began rummaging through the ledgers. "What are you doing?" a woman asked. He looked up to see the woman Gold had been seeing.

"Looking for someone," he replied, returning to the ledger.

"Who? Maybe I can help you."

"Jones, first name, Jasper."

The woman took the ledger and immediately put it away. She reached for another book, a census that he guessed to be a little under thirty years old. She opened to the middle of the book, turned a few pages, and said, "Ah, here it is. Jasper Jones. Declared missing twenty-nine years ago next week."

"Is there a police report on file?"

"Not likely, considering who runs this town and who used to be sheriff."

"Who used to be sheriff?"

"The mayor's sex slave."

"This place is better than cable."

The woman chuckled in a way that told Ben she wasn't exactly sure what that meant but was willing to go along with it anyway. "It's worth a shot, though."

"Alright, who do I talk to about that?"

"His name was David Nolan. He'll likely be at the police station."

"Thank you."

OUAT

Ben arrived at the police station and managed to get an appointment with David-Prince Charming-without incident. "You're the newcomer, huh?" he asked, leaning back and tossing a pen onto the desk.

"Yes, I am," Ben replied. "If you don't mind, I've a matter I'd like to discuss."

"What matter would that be?"

"Is there a file on one named Jasper Jones?"

Charming stood and walked over to the cabinet. He rummaged through a few files in a drawer labeled 'F-K' before producing one and turning back toward Ben. "It's only, like, five pages, looks like, but it's here," he said. "Think that'll work?"

"For my intents and purposes, yes. Thanks."

"Don't think I'm letting you leave with it, though. Not without filling out the proper paperwork."

"Alright."

It took Ben all of ten minutes to fill out the forms and assure Charming that he would return it within forty-eight hours. After all, he didn't need it for longer. With a cheery send-off, Ben left the station with the file tucked under his arm.

He walked back to August's room and reached for the door just as Hook opened it. "Look what I found," he said, holding the file up.

"That's all on my brother?" Hook asked.

"Yep."

"Wait, what's going on?" Tink asked.

"I decided I'd try to track down his brother. I have nothing else to do, really."

"You could try talking to your dad about that indicator," August said.

"Yeah...no." Ben walked into the room and put the file on the desk next to the typewriter. "That's a bad plan and a disaster waiting to happen."

"Please," Hook said. "The file?"

Ben opened it and studied the first page for a moment before producing the picture that came with it. "This him?" he asked. Hook plucked the picture of the dark-haired youth from Ben's hand. His eyes were drawn to the emblem around the young man's neck, and then, in a rage, he drove his hook deep into the wall. Ben took the photo back as Hook began to detatch himself from the wall.

August studied the photo over Ben's shoulder. His eyes, too, drifted to the object at the man's neck. "Holy shit," he said.

"I assume you know what this means?" Ben asked.

"It means we're frickin' screwed."


	9. Played False

Played False

Ben lay the photo on the desk and stared at the bronze medallion, in which there was a relief of a slightly stylized and simplistic anchor. "'Frickin' screwed' doesn't even begin to cover it," Hook said. "That's the emblem of the wraith around his neck."

"So why would he be wearing it?" Ben asked.

"Because it's also the family standard."

"Your family must go way back," August said, "because wraiths have been soul-sucking for longer than my dad could remember."

"His father knows me," Hook said, tilting his head toward Ben for a moment.

"What are you? Fey or something?"

"That's my business."

"That's enough," Ben said. He took a breath and continued, "Hook's brother is connected to the wraiths. A wraith tore through the town just before I got here. Hook's brother made a deal with my father, among their other dealings that I don't know about and prefer not to go into at this point. The wraith was sent elsewhere, yes?"

"So far as we know," August said.

"But it could come back." August shrugged and nodded.

"Then what?" Hook asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I know who to talk to about it."

"Who?"

"He calls himself Mr. Gold, but he also goes by Rumpelstiltskin."

OUAT

Tink pulled Hook aside before they entered the shop and whispered, "Are you sure about this? You're normally not so impulsive."

"This is a family matter, Miss Bell," Hook replied. "Finally I'm not the only one looking for him."

"Jas, this is dangerous. This involves wraiths. What if he's one of them?"

"Then we'll find a way to get him back."

"And if we can't? What then, Jas? What then?"

Hook paused. "How long have you known me?"

"Almost as long as I knew Peter. Why?"

"You should know by now that I compromise nothing. I give up on nothing, and I will not stop. Ever."

"Who are you going to take down with you, James? Is it going to be one of us? Is it going to be me?"

"I'll win."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

He walked out of the alley.

OUAT

Ben hardly knew what happened before his head slammed into the corner of the shop and he was sent stumbling into the sidewalk. August moved toward him but recieved a kick in the torso from the captain for his efforts. Hook entered the shop just as Rumpelstiltskin was on his way out to see what was going on. "What're you doing here?" he asked.

"You're coming with me," Hook said.

Rumpelstiltskin smirked and move backward almost instantaneously. "I'm not going anywhere," he said.

August entered the shop, grabbed the nearest item (a sculpture), and bashed it across the captain's back. "Go," he said. "I'll hold him off." Rumpelstiltskin ran for the door and spotted his grown son on the sidewalk.

"Bae?" he whispered, checking for a pulse, which there was. In relief, he sank to his knees. "Bae." He picked the man up and stood laboriously, and then he limped off.

OUAT

Hook wheeled on August and slashed at him with the hook. August ducked and gave the captain a good punch in the sternum. Hook stumbled back and gasped. His eyes were wide as he stared up at the puppet man standing over him. "You're solving your own problems," August said, throwing the statue aside and exiting the shop.

He spotted the woman called Tink running down the sidewalk, and in the other direction, he saw Rumpelstiltskin limp along with Ben in his arms. August walked after them.

Rumpelstiltskin looked askance at Pinocchio and asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm a friend of his." August gestured to Ben.

"Oh, and you think that settles everything."

Ben groaned. "I'm not here to settle what score I may have with you," August said. "I'm here because that's my friend and he got his head knocked around pretty bad. That's all." Rumpelstiltskin huffed and breezed past August. "Would you even care if he turned out to be lying to you, too?" The Dark One turned a glare on August such that his throat suddenly felt tight and hard. He stumbled back and unconsciously reached for his neck. "Would you?" he managed to gasp out.

"For the record," Rumpelstiltskin growled as he approached the puppet man, "I care very much."

"You still brought magic here, and the whole point of you two going to a land without magic was for magic to not exist in your lives." Rumpelstiltskin turned away and limped back home. As soon as he broke eye contact, August inhaled deeply. "God, I feel bad for that kid," he said.

OUAT

Ben awoke to a pounding headache and some strange smell coming from the kitchen. "Oh, you're awake," the woman from the library said as she walked over to him and sat next to him. She wiped his forehead off with a wet cloth.

"What do you call yourself?" he asked.

"Belle."

"I'm Ben now. Have been for twenty-nine years."

"Who were you before that?"

"Let's just say I had a father and he let me go."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. It's nothing to do with you." She wrung the cloth out into a nearby bucket and walked back to the kitchen. "Where's August?" he asked.

Belle turned in the doorway. "I don't know," she said. Ben turned his gaze to the ceiling.

Rumpelstiltskin walked into the living room. "Oh, you're up."

"Where's August?" Ben asked.

"I assume run off back to his room at the bed and breakfast. Why?"

"Because he had a point. I could be lying through my teeth, but would you care?"

"If you were lying through your teeth, you wouldn't ask about Morraine."

"You don't know that. August knew about the knife."

"Did you tell him?"

"What would you say if I said yes?"

Rumpelstiltskin took a seat next to Ben and stroked his hair from his face. "Even if you're not my son, please, let me live this for a while," he whispered.

Ben smiled. "But I am. Here's something only you would know, if you need it. My earliest memory is watching a soldier blow your knee out."

"You shouldn't have been watching such things."

"They came into the home and pulled you from the wheel. You tried to run, and one of them kicked you in the knee and destroyed it. You've used a walking stick ever since, until you became the Dark One." He blinked. "My name's Baelfire," he whispered. Rumpelstiltskin pulled his son into his arms, and Bae gripped his jacket at the shoulder. "Will you stay with me this time?"

"Absolutely, my son. As long as you need me."

Bae nodded. "I think I made a horrible mistake."

"That's alright, Bae. That's perfectly normal."

He pulled away and sat up. "Alright, what now?"

"Well, now we try to fix it."

"We?"

"You, me, and whoever else we need to find Killian and stop him before he does anything."

"Killian, Killian. Why does that name sound familiar?"

"He used to be known as 'King of the High Seas'."

Bae gasped and put his hands to his head. "Ow, ow ow," he said. Rumpelstiltskin pulled Bae into his arms again.

"Don't move so much," he whispered. "Be careful."

"I know what he's doing, and we don't have time. I can feel it, and it feels bad." Rumpelstiltskin helped his son to his feet. "Let's go."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yep." Bae was already in the process of removing his jacket, vest, and tie and leaving them on the coatrack. He and Rumpelstiltskin walked out of the house side by side.


	10. On the Dock

On the Dock

Bae and Rumpelstiltskin caught up with Tinker Bell just as she was leaving the bed and breakfast. "I was about to go looking for you," she said. "Jas is doing something really stupid."

"We know," Bae said. "Where's August?"

"Someone lookin' for me?" August asked as he walked out of the front door of the inn.

"We are. Our captain is going to do something very dangerous."

"Well, where do we start?"

Bae turned on his heel and walked briskly to his father's pawn shop. It was an effort for the other three to keep up with him. "His mind works so quickly," he heard his father say behind him.

"Where do you think I got it from?" When they reached the shop, Bae turned to his father and asked, "Do you have anything, anything at all, that has an anchor design on it?"

Blanched, Rumpelstiltskin walked past Bae and into the shop. August, Tink, and Bae watched him rummage around for a half hour before re-emerging. "It's gone," he said.

"I knew it," Bae replied. "Where's the harbor?"

"How'd you know there is one?"

"Because this is Maine. If you're going to have a viable town in Maine, it kind of needs to be connected at least in theory to the outside world." Rumpelstiltskin pointed behind him. "How close are we?"

"Fifteen minutes' walk."

"And he has the same amount of time on us."

"Okay, everybody join hands," Tink said.

"What is this, a focus group?" Rumpelstiltskin asked.

"You can think of it that way, yes."

Bae took her hand. "I have a good feeling about this." Rumpelstiltskin took both his and August's hand, and August completed the circle. A yellow glow encased them.

"Hang on," Tink said, and the glow intensified. In a flash, to any passersby, they disappeared.

A second flash came at the pier, coincidentally in front of Captain Hook as he marched his pirates to his ship. Tink waited until the three others were steady before releasing August's and Bae's hands. She turned to Hook and flashed a winning smile. Gradually, all three turned to face him. "Oh, hello," Hook said, struggling to keep his voice even. Dangling off his hook was the amulet carved with the symbol of the anchor, and Bae noticed the Dark One's knife hanging off the captain's belt. He stepped directly between the captain and his father. "Oh, defensive, are we? Well, then." He tossed the amulet aside, and the nearest pirates were more than willing to let it scuttle across the pier. Then he drew the knife.

"Papa, stay back," Bae yelled. Hook rushed him with the knife. Bae grabbed his wrist with the tip inches from his father's nose. Rumpelstiltskin barely flinched. Hook swung his hook, to be caught by Bae, who proceeded to pull his upper body into a waiting knee. While he was delirious, Bae pushed him back. Hook rushed Bae again, but Rumpelstiltskin stepped up to Bae's side and flicked his wrist. Hook flew back into his retinue of pirates, who collapsed into themselves to keep him somewhat upright.

He had released his grip on the knife in the course of his flight, and it flew across the pier to land across the medallion, with Rumpelstiltskin's name facing up. The medallion and knife began to glow. All present began to scramble back. Bae pushed his father back as far as the pier would allow. Tink looked at Hook, whose eyes were fixed on the glow on the dock.

The bright glow gave way to a black cloud that spiralled upward and outward, taking the surrounding air with it. As the storm intensified, it started to shred the pier. Bae bowed his head against the pieces. Rumpelstiltskin held him firmly and whispered reassurances.

"The knife," Bae said. He had to scream to be heard over the wind. "The knife is the key."

"What are you talking about, Bae?" Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"The knife's what started this, so the knife is what ends it." He looked over his father's shoulder and noticed that Hook must have come to a similar conclusion, and he pushed his father in the direction of the eye of the storm. "Go," he said, and then he prepraed to stand off against the pirate for the fourth time in his life.

But Hook wasn't interested in Bae. Instead, he dove straight for Rumpelstiltskin. "You're not going to leave me, Papa?" Bae whispered to himself. "Well, I'm not going to leave you, either."

Then a strange thing happened.

Baelfire, possessed of an energy he didn't even know he could feel, threw it all toward the captain. With a violent crack that he could've sworn would've been heard by his employer in New York, the energy rocked the air in front of him and sent the captain flying.

Rumpelstiltskin had managed to jerk the knife off the medallion at the same time, so that Bae lay face first on the pier, one arm extended and the other curled under him, Rumpelstiltskin breathing heavily and working his way onto his back. The pirates beheld the scene, complete with much calmer winds and drifting debris, in shock and fear.

"What the hell just happened?" August asked.

"Good question," Bae replied.

Rumpelstiltskin threw the knife away and rushed to his son's side. "Bae, Bae, are you alright?" he asked.

"What the hell just happened to me?"

"You have magic, Bae." There was such a mix of conflicting emotion in Rumpelstiltsin's eyes that Bae, at a loss for what to think, finally gave up on the task altogether. He rolled onto his back and closed his eyes, finally too exhausted for anything but sleep.

Tink walked over to them and said, "Come on, let's go home," and she lay her hands on Rumpelstiltskin's and August's shoulders. They flashed themselves into Rumpelstiltskin's living room.


	11. The Dust Settles

The Dust Settles

"Oh, Bae," Rumpelstiltskin whispered as he watched Bae sleep in his bed.

"What are you thinking?" Belle asked from the doorway.

"This was so far from what he wanted out of life. He wanted us both to live magic-less lives, together, where I wasn't the Dark One and we could be family, like we were supposed to. Now he has power, too."

"You're equals now," she said. "When you lost him, you were the only one with the power." He looked at her over his shoulder. "I did take up a job at the library."

He sighed and looked back at his son. "I don't know what's going to happen to him, but whatever it is, I need to be here, with him."

She stepped forward. "You're a good father."

"No, Belle. I'm not. I just got lucky and had a second chance with my boy."

"And you look like you know what you're doing this time around. You're going to do a good job."

"How do you know that?"

"I have faith, and you should, too." She lay a hand on his shoulder, and he lay his on top of hers and stroked gently with his thumb.

OUAT

August looked up from the typewriter as soon as someone rapped on the door. He put a baseball bat next to the door and answered, to a face he hadn't expected to see in any scenario he could've ever dreamed up. He blinked and said, "Hey, Dad."

"Pinocchio," Marco whispered.

"Come in." August stepped aside so that Marco could enter, and he closed the door behind him. "So...how're things?"

"I can't believe it's you. What happened?"

"I haven't been a good boy lately, but I'm trying my best."

Marco nodded. "That's all that matters."

OUAT

Smee waited at the pier long after the other pirates fled, fearful of another of what they called "witch's storms". Finally, Hook broke the surface of the water and groped for the dock, coughing, spluttering, and gasping for air. Smee helped him completely out of the water and waited for the captain to completely recover control of his breathing.

Hook took in his surroundings at the first available opportunity, and he noticed the medallion almost immediately. He picked it up by the string with his hook as he sat on his knees.


End file.
